The Hindu Business Line : KSE draws up expansion plan; to set up veg refining plant

THE Kerala-based KSE Ltd, one of the leading cattle feed manufacturers in the country, is to embark on an expansion programme by doubling its solvent extraction capacity apart from setting up a modern eco-friendly vegetable refining plant.

The company has already identified six acres of land in the Kinfra Small Industries Park in Koratty, and the total project outlay for the first phase of expansion is estimated at Rs 12 crore, Mr M.C. Paul, Chairman and Managing Director, said at a press conference.

A part of the project would be financed by term loans from banks and financial institutions and the rest would be sourced out of internal accruals, he said.

In the first phase, Mr Paul said, the company plans to install a 200 tonne per day solvent plant for processing oil cakes and also a 100 tonne per day physical refining plant. Both these plants would be of international standards using most modern technologies, where the process loss is kept to the minimum.

The projects are likely to be commissioned by April 2005. In the second phase, a 100 tonne per day oil fractionation unit would also be added.

The company is in the oil extraction industry for the past 31 years. With this 200 tonne per day plant, it would be doubling the existing aggregate capacity of 200 tonnes of its two plants. The company has a chemical oil refining plant of 20 tonnes per day and once this project being commissioned, another 100 tonnes per day capacity would be added.

KSE plans to source the raw material required for the new project from local market and also through imports.

A part of the oil extracted in the solvent plant would be refined in the physical refining plant and sold in bulk for industrial consumption.

The existing market would be utilised to channelise the de-oiled cake and vegetable oils produced in the new plants, he said.

Mr P. Anand Menon, Chief General Manager, said that response for its Vesta Brand ice creams was good. There are plans to add more ice cream production units and exclusive KSE parlours to serve all pockets.

Referring to the financial performance of 2003-04, Mr Menon said the turnover is expected to surpass over Rs 186 crore recording a 12 per cent growth over the last year turnover of Rs 166 crore.

After the commissioning of the new plants, the turnover is projected to improve by Rs 130 crore and the after tax profit is expected to improve by another Rs 4 crore once the project is fully implemented, he said.

KSE has secured the National Productivity Award for the year 2001-02 for being first in terms of efficiency in the animal feed sector. This is the sixth time in a row that the company is being selected for this award, he added.

More Stories on : New Projects | Animals & Livestock | Kerala

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